Bomb Kills Four Soldiers in Balochistan

An improvised explosive device hit a Frontier Corps vehicle on Sunday in the restive province of Balochistan, killing four soldiers and wounding three others, the military said.

Pakistan has been battling insurgency in mineral-rich Balochistan since 2004, with hundreds of soldiers and militants killed in the fighting. The IED hit the FC vehicle during a routine patrol by the paramilitary force near the town of Turbat.

“At least four FC soldiers embraced shahadat while another three sustained injuries,” the military said in a statement.

Balochistan is the largest of Pakistan’s four provinces, but its roughly seven million inhabitants have long complained they do not receive a fair share of its gas and mineral wealth.

Around 500 Baloch rebel militants on Friday surrendered to the government as Islamabad pursues its development agenda linked to the ambitious China-Pakistan Economic Corridor in the province. A greater push toward peace and development by Pakistani authorities, including starting work on roads and infrastructure under the Chinese-assisted CPEC project—which connects Balochistan’s deep sea port of Gwadar to China—has reduced the violence considerably.